An evaluation of the impact of the PSMDP on the management performance areas from the perspectives of the SMT’s

Abstract

The Government of Botswana has made concerted efforts since attaining independence in 1966 to improve the quality of its primary education sector through a number of reforms. One such reform was the introduction of the Primary Schools Management Development Project in 1999 which was a joint venture with the British Department for International Development (DFID) whose main purpose was to develop the management and instructional leadership skills in primary school heads in order to make them more effective in their jobs. This paper reports the findings of a study that was carried out to evaluate whether the PSMDP achieved its intended mandate of improving the management of primary schools in Botswana. The study adopted the survey research design with questionnaires for different categories of teachers being the main instrument used. The study targeted three out of the six primary education regions, namely Central North, Southern and South Central. A total of forty Government primary schools were used with a total sample of 560 teachers in all.